We left Bandelier and headed towards Albuquerque but had one more stop outside of Santa Fe. We had heard about Tent Rocks from the Tourist Info centre and really wanted to check it out – rocks in the shape of tents? Who wouldn’t want to see that? About 40 miles from Santa Fe, along the route to Albuquerque, we found the turn off and headed into the hills to find Tent Rocks National Monument, or Kasha-Katuwe in the language of the Pueblo people. From the parking lot, we could see the rocks and they looked interesting, but the scenery really became extraordinary as we moved along the short hike looping the canyon. We took a little detour along a slot canyon where we had to literally squeeze ourselves through in a few places. Unfortunately, the canyon was blocked further up by ice and snow, so after a nice chat with a couple of park rangers who were keeping folks from going too far, we came back and continued along the main canyon loop.
Further along, we noticed a cave which in times past had been used by the Pueblo people of this area. I am not sure if they used it as a dwelling or as a spiritual place, but given that we didn’t see any other places that indicated people lived here, I am thinking it was the latter. I can imagine walking into this place, alone, and seeing all of the amazing rock formations but in complete silence. What an experience it would have been to stay in this cave, looking out over the landscape and contemplating what your future might hold.
Further along the trail, we encountered a tree that most likely had been hit by lightening. We saw twisted trees like this in the Redwood forest when we visited there a few years ago.
Finally, we came to be able to make a closer inspection of the tent-shaped rocks and they were well worth the effort to get here (actually, its a very short hike, so no effort at all, really!). Pretty amazing rock formations!
We left Tent Rocks and continued on to Albuquerque, stopping at a Walmart north of town for our overnight. Traffic was pretty heavy as we were coming in during rush hour – something we had not experienced for quite a while! With the weather being quite cold, out plan for the next day was to make a stop at the Petroglyph National Monument on the south side of town before moving on towards our next destination, The Painted Desert, leaving the city of Albuquerque for another time when we could come and enjoy strolling the city in our shorts and t-shirts, instead of all bundled up as we have been. This cold weather was beginning to wear on us and thoughts of heading south to Tuscon were filling our heads. But first, a stop to see more petroglyphs.
Petroglyph National Monument is a gigantic place! There are many hiking trails which will take you into the back country to view petroglyphs as well as short trails where you can hop out of your car and still see them. There are 4 different parking lots to choose from, but you must first stop at the Visitor’s Center to check in, get a map and figure out which hike you want to do. They can vary from 5 minutes to several hours. As we were heading west, we decided to check out Boca Negra Canyon, where we parked the van and hiked up a short but steep hill, checking out petroglyphs as we went. After that, we found several other viewing spots just off the parking lot, all within a short walk. It was pretty cool to see this amazing art work and to know that 100’s more can be found in other parts of the park. We definitely could have spent several days here, just hiking this park – another spot for us to return to on a warmer day!
